Three-dimensional game board with interlocking elements and mating accessories

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a three-dimensional game board that can be built by a player. The three-dimensional game board may include a plurality of building components having at least one integrally formed hexagonal element, wherein adjacent hexagonal elements share a common side. The hexagonal elements may include a raised hexagonal surface having an edge extending upwardly from a top surface of each hexagonal element. The edges of the hexagonal surfaces of adjacent hexagonal elements may define a channel therebetween. A sidewall may extend downwardly from a peripheral edge and may be defined by the integrally formed hexagonal elements. The sidewall may be configured to be received into the channels formed by the hexagonal surfaces of a building component disposed below. Portions of the sidewall may engage corresponding hexagonal surfaces of the building component disposed below to maintain the building components in substantial vertical alignment.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional game board, andmore particularly, to a three-dimensional game board with interlockinghexagonal elements and mating accessories.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Stacking game boards having accessories such as game pieces and buildingwalls are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,527 issued Rosenwinkelet al. discloses a treasure game with separable and changeable surfaces.The players construct a mansion during the course of play using a seriesof separate pieces representing rooms on different levels of themansion. Each piece has a number of doorway connections one of whichmust be aligned with a doorway connection of another piece to interfacethe pieces. In addition, each piece contains a number of locations whichthe player must investigate to acquire assistance in locating a treasureand then escape from the mansion with the treasure. Frames of differentheight are provided to support the room pieces at different levels andstep pieces are also provided to interconnect rooms at different levels.

In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,253 issued to Csoka discloses amaze board game. The maze game includes a plurality of game boards thathave individually identified boxes and grooves disposed peripherallybetween the boxes. A plurality of walls is insertable into the groovesbetween each set of adjacent boxes so as to form a wall therebetween. Aseries of walls define a maze on the board. A token piece is movedstepwise from one box to an adjacent box in the maze as the maze isbeing defined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a three-dimensionalgame board that can be built by a player. The three-dimensional gameboard may include a plurality of building components having at least oneintegrally formed hexagonal element, wherein adjacent hexagonal elementsshare a common side. The hexagonal elements may include a raisedhexagonal surface having an edge extending upwardly from a top surfaceof each hexagonal element. The edges of the hexagonal surfaces ofadjacent hexagonal elements may define a channel therebetween. Asidewall may extend downwardly from a peripheral edge and may be definedby the integrally formed hexagonal elements. The sidewall may beconfigured to be received into the channels formed by the hexagonalsurfaces of a building component disposed below. Portions of thesidewall may engage corresponding hexagonal surfaces of the buildingcomponent disposed below to maintain the building components insubstantial vertical alignment.

In another aspect, the present invention is directed to athree-dimensional board game having a plurality of building componentswith at least one surface element. The surface elements may beintegrally formed to define a top surface of the building component. Araised surface may be formed with an edge extending upwardly from a topsurface of each element to define a channel therebetween. A sidewallextending downwardly from a peripheral edge defined by the integrallyformed surface elements may be configured to be received into thechannels formed by the raised surfaces of a building component disposedbelow. Portions of the sidewall may engage corresponding surfaces of thebuilding component disposed below to maintain the building components insubstantial vertical alignment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a building component having sevenhexagonal elements permanently joined together;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the seven hexagonal element buildingcomponent of FIG. 1 and a three hexagonal element building componentconnected thereto;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the horizontally-connected building componentsof FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the horizontally-connected buildingcomponents of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an upper twenty-four hexagonal elementbuilding component vertically stacked on a lower twenty-four hexagonalelement building component;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the vertically-stacked twenty-fourhexagonal element building components of FIG. 5 with a seven-hexagonalelement building component being attached adjacent thereto;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the seven and twenty-four hexagonalbuilding components of FIG. 6 with a three hexagonal element buildingcomponent being attached adjacent thereto;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the plurality of building components ofFIG. 7 having additional building components and an accessory positionedthereon;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an accessory formed to engage thehexagonal element building components; and

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the accessory of FIG. 9 showing a baseconfigured to be received by the building components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofdifferent embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that thelegal scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims setforth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment of the invention since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternativeembodiments could be implemented, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this patent, which wouldstill fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term by limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element isdefined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recitalof any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim elementbe interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixthparagraph.

A three-dimensional game board according to the present invention mayinclude a plurality of building components configured to be disposedadjacent and connected to each other, and to be stacked and connected inmultiple levels, with the building components on adjacent levelsengaging each other to maintain the building components in verticalalignment. Referring to FIG. 1, one example of a building component 10for a three-dimensional game board is illustrated. The exemplarybuilding component 10 includes seven hexagonal elements 12, but thethree-dimensional game board may include a plurality of buildingcomponents having varying members of hexagonal elements 12 integrallyconnected together to form the building components as illustrated by theseven element building component 10 depicted in FIG. 1. It should beunderstood by one skill in the art that any desired number of hexagonalelements 12 can be used to form a building component. Furthermore, aplurality of building components may be connected together in bothvertical and horizontal directions to form the three-dimensional gameboard in a manner illustrated and described more fully hereinafter.

The hexagonal element 12 may include a smaller raised hexagonal surfaceor shape 16 extending upwardly from a top surface 18 defined by theintegrally formed hexagonal elements 12. A recessed channel 20 may beformed by the edges 22 of the raised hexagonal shapes 16 between theadjacent sides of the adjacent shapes 16. Because hexagonal shapes areused in the illustrated embodiment, the recessed channel 20 may define azigzag path 23 between adjacent rows of hexagonal shapes 16. It shouldbe noted that the raised shape 16 is not limited to a hexagonal shape,and may be any desired shape, such as circular, rectangular, and thelike. The path 23 may not be zigzag in shape if shapes other thanhexagonal shapes 16 are used. The building component 10 may furtherinclude a sidewall 24 extending downwardly from the top surface 18around the periphery of the building component 10. The sidewall 24 mayinclude a plurality of portions 44 each corresponding to a side of oneof the hexagonal elements 12 disposed at the periphery of the buildingcomponents 10, and which are configured to engage a corresponding edge22 of a hexagonal shape 16 formed on the top surface 18 of a verticallyadjacent building component 10 to align the building components 10 in amanner described more fully below. The sidewall 24 and hexagonalelements 12 may define a hollow upwardly extending recess 28 adjacent abottom surface 26 thereof. The upwardly extending recess 28 isconfigured to receive the raised hexagonal shapes 16 of buildingcomponent(s) positioned below the building components 10 on the gameboard. The portions 44 and sidewall 24 of the building component 10 mayengage the corresponding raised edges 22 of the raised shapes 16 toalign the building component 10 with the building component(s)positioned below the building component. In this manner, the buildingcomponents may be vertically stacked and aligned relative to one anotheras will be described in more detail below.

The portions 44 of the sidewall 24 may include attachment mechanisms fordetachably connecting adjacent building components. In the presentembodiment, the portions 44 may include at least one dovetail 40 and atleast one dovetail groove 42 configured to mate with correspondingdovetails 40 and grooves 42 on other portions 44 to mechanically connectthe portion 44 to an adjacent hexagonal elements 12. Each dovetail 40may slidingly engage with a mating dovetail groove 42 of the portion 44of an adjacently positioned hexagonal element 12. The dovetails 40 areengaged by the dovetail grooves 42 to prevent movement in a horizontaldirection, but may be displaced in a vertical direction to detach thebuilding components as is known to those skilled in the art. Of course,other connection mechanisms for preventing horizontal relative movementof the building components will be apparent to those skilled in the artand are contemplated as having use with the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the seven element building component 10 and athree element building component 30 may be stacked together in ahorizontally adjacent configuration. Not only may the buildingcomponents 10 include different numbers of hexagonal elements 12, butthe hexagonal elements 12 may also include different surfaceconfigurations on the raised hexagonal shapes 16 and different colorsrepresentative of differing game play characteristics of the game board,such as differing geographies. For example, the seven element buildingcomponent 14 has a crack configuration 32 representative of stone ormountain terrain, and the three element building component 30 has adimple configuration 34 and may have a brown coloring representative ofbeach or desert terrain. It should be understood however, by one skillin the art that any desired surface configuration may be incorporatedinto the raised hexagonal shapes 16 and/or hexagonal elements 12 of abuilding components. Furthermore, the raised hexagonal shapes 16 mayextend upwardly from the hexagonal elements 12 to different heightsrelative to one another. For example, the edges 22 of the dimpleconfiguration 34 may be higher than the edges 22 of the crackconfiguration 32. Further, the hexagonal elements 12 may be configuredwithout hexagonal shapes 16, such as to simulate water, snow, or icethat may not be able to maintain vertical alignment with other buildingcomponents disposed thereon.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a top view and a bottom view,respectively, of the seven element building component 10 and the threehexagonal element building component 30 are shown adjacently positionedand connected by the dovetail joint 40, 42 along three portions 44 ofthe sidewalls 24 of the building components 10, 30. A channel 21 may bedefined between hexagonal shapes 16 along connected portions 44 similarto the channels 20 formed between hexagonal shapes 16 on a singlebuilding component. As seen in FIG. 4, the shape of the sidewalls 24corresponds to the shape of the channels 20 formed by the raised shapes16 so the sidewalls 24 may be disposed therein. It is contemplated bythe present disclosure that any combination of geometric shapes, such ascircles, squares, or triangles may be used for the elements 12 and theraised shapes 16 as desired while providing building components that maybe used to construct a three-dimensional game board. Regardless of theshapes, or combination of shapes used for the elements and upwardlyextending shapes, the building components may be configured such thatthe sidewalls 24 correspond to the channels to align the buildingcomponents.

Assembly of a three dimensional game board will be discussed withrespect to FIGS. 5-8. FIG. 5 illustrates a pair of twenty-four hexagonalbuilding components 46 a, 46 b being stacked in a vertical direction. Inthis example, a twenty-four hexagonal element building component 46 a isstacked on a lower twenty-four hexagonal element building component 46b. The downwardly extending sidewall 24 of the top building component 46a engages the edges 22 of the raised hexagonal shapes 16 of the bottombuilding component 46 b. In this manner the sidewall 24 prevents the topbuilding component 46 a from moving in a horizontal direction relativeto the lower building component 46 b.

FIG. 6 illustrates the upper 24 hexagonal element building component 46a, and the lower twenty-four hexagonal element building component 46 bof FIG. 5, with a seven hexagonal element building component 10 beingadded. The upper and lower twenty-four hexagonal element buildingcomponents 46 a, 46 b are interconnected together via the sidewall 24 ofthe upper building component 46 a engaging the raised hexagonal shapes16 of the lower twenty-four hexagonal element components 46 b. The sevenhexagonal element building component 14 is held in fixed relationship tothe lower twenty-four hexagonal element building component 46 b via thedovetail 46 and dovetail groove 42 mechanism described above. FIG. 7 isa view of FIG. 6 with a three hexagonal element building component 30being added to a plurality of building components. It should bereiterated that the building components may be stacked in any mannerdesired by a player.

Referring now to FIG. 8, additional building components may be added tothe three-dimensional game board as desired such as smooth surfacehexagonal elements 68, a cracked surface three hexagonal elements 31,and a single hexagonal element 70 having a raised cracked surface 16.The smooth surface hexagonal elements 68 may be used to simulate wateror ice and the like for the player to use with the fantasythree-dimensional game board. In this manner, building components havingvariable numbers of hexagonal elements 12 and variable surfaceconfigurations may be utilized to form the three-dimensional game boardas desired by the player. It should be understood that buildingcomponents having different sizes and shapes with different surfacetextures and colors may be used to simulate different geographies.Variation in the building components allows the players to constructdifferent playing fields for different game play experiences each timethe game is played. In addition, an accessory, such as a wall 50, may bepositioned on the building components to further enhance the gameexperience.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the wall 50 shown in FIG. 8 is depictedin a perspective view and a bottom view respectively. The wall 50 mayinclude a plurality of pillars 52 interconnected by thin wall members54. A plurality of stiffening ribs 56 may be intermittently positionedalong the wall 50 to provide stiffening support to the wall 50.Referring more particularly to FIG. 9, a base 60 may be formed on alower portion 62 of the wall 50. The base 60 is configured to engage thepath 23 formed by the recessed channels 20 between the raised hexagonalshapes 16 of the building components 10. The base 60 resists horizontalmovement of the wall 50 with respect to the building components 10 suchthat a minimal force will not dislodge the wall 50 from the buildingcomponents 10. It should be understood that raised shapes 16 havingdifferent geometries than the corresponding element 12 may be used tocreate different shaped channels 20. Accessories, such a walls 50, mayhave a base 60 formed to correspond to the shape of the channels 20formed by the hexagonal shapes 16. When hexagonal shapes 16 are used asillustrated, the channel path 23 may be formed in a zigzag configurationbetween adjacent rows of hexagonal shapes 16.

While the preceding text sets forth a detailed description of numerousdifferent embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that thelegal scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims setforth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment of the invention since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternativeembodiments could be implemented, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this patent, which wouldstill fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.

1. A three-dimensional game board, comprising: a plurality of buildingcomponents, each building component comprising: at least one integrallyformed hexagonal element, wherein adjacent hexagonal elements share acommon side; a raised hexagonal surface having an edge and extendingupwardly from a top surface of each hexagonal element, wherein the edgesof the hexagonal surfaces of adjacent hexagonal elements defines achannel therebetween; a sidewall extending downwardly from a peripheraledge defined by the integrally formed hexagonal elements, wherein thesidewall is configured to be received into the channels formed by thehexagonal surfaces of a building component disposed below, and whereinportions of the sidewall engage corresponding hexagonal surfaces of thebuilding component disposed below to maintain the building components insubstantial vertical alignment.
 2. The three-dimensional game board ofclaim 1, wherein the sidewall includes a plurality of portions eachcorresponding to a side of a hexagonal element disposed at theperipheral edge of the building component, and wherein each portion ofthe sidewall includes connection mechanism for detachably connecting thebuilding component to a corresponding connection mechanism of a portionof a sidewall of an adjacent building component.
 3. Thethree-dimensional game board of claim 1, wherein the connectionmechanism comprises at least one dovetail and at least one dovetail slotadapted to detachably connect to a corresponding dovetail and dovetailslot of a portion of a sidewall of the adjacent building component. 4.The three-dimensional game board of claim 1, wherein the buildingcomponents include a plurality of colors.
 5. The three-dimensional gameboard of claim 1, wherein the building components include a plurality ofsurface textures.
 6. The three-dimensional game board of claim 5,wherein the plurality of surface textures simulates at least one ofrocks, water, sand, and forests.
 7. The three-dimensional game board ofclaim 1, wherein the raised surfaces include a plurality of predefinedheights.
 8. The three-dimensional game board of claim 1, wherein thesidewalls of the hexagonal elements include a plurality of predefinedheights.
 9. The three-dimensional game board of claim 1, wherein a sideof the raised hexagonal surface is parallel to a side of an adjacentraised hexagonal surface.
 10. The three-dimensional game board of claim1, further comprising an accessory having a downwardly extending baseportion, the base portion being configured to be received within aportion of the channel defined by the hexagonal surfaces to retain theaccessory in substantially vertical alignment with a building componenton which the accessory is disposed.
 11. The three-dimensional game boardof claim 1, wherein the base portion of the accessory is configured tobe receive by a portion of the channel defined by the hexagonal surfacesdefining a zigzag path.
 12. A three-dimensional game board, comprising:a plurality of building components, each building component comprising:at least one surface element, the surface elements being integrallyformed to define a top surface of the building component; a raisedsurface having an edge extending upwardly from a top surface of eachelement, wherein the edges of the surfaces of adjacent elements definesa channel therebetween; a sidewall extending downwardly from aperipheral edge defined by the integrally formed surface elements,wherein the sidewall is configured to be received into the channelsformed by the raised surfaces of a building component disposed below,and wherein portions of the sidewall engage corresponding surfaces ofthe building component disposed below to maintain the buildingcomponents in substantial vertical alignment.
 13. The three-dimensionalgame board of claim 12, wherein the sidewall includes a plurality ofportions each corresponding to a side of a surface element disposed atthe peripheral edge of the building component, and wherein each portionof the sidewall includes connection mechanism for detachably connectingthe building component to a corresponding connection mechanism of aportion of a sidewall of an adjacent building component.
 14. Thethree-dimensional game board of claim 12, wherein the connectionmechanism comprises at least one dovetail and at least one dovetail slotadapted to detachably connect to a corresponding dovetail and dovetailslot of a portion of a sidewall of the adjacent building component. 15.The three-dimensional game board of claim 12, wherein the buildingcomponents include a plurality of colors.
 16. The three-dimensional gameboard of claim 12, wherein the building components include a pluralityof surface textures.
 17. The three-dimensional game board of claim 16,wherein the plurality of surface textures simulates at least one ofrocks, water, sand, and forests.
 18. The three-dimensional game board ofclaim 12, wherein the raised surfaces include a plurality of predefinedheights.
 19. The three-dimensional game board of claim 12, wherein thesidewalls of the elements include a plurality of predefined heights. 20.The three-dimensional game board of claim 12, wherein a side of theraised surface is parallel to a side of an adjacent raised surface. 21.The three-dimensional game board of claim 12, further comprising anaccessory having a downwardly extending base portion, the base portionbeing configured to be received within a portion of the channel definedby the raised surfaces to retain the accessory in substantially verticalalignment with a building component on which the accessory is disposed.22. The three-dimensional game board of claim 12, wherein each of thesurface elements has a hexagonal shape.
 23. The three-dimensional gameboard of claim 22, wherein each of the raised surfaces has a hexagonalshape.
 24. The three-dimensional game board of claim 23, wherein eachside of a hexagonal raised surface is parallel to a corresponding sideof the corresponding hexagonal surface element.
 25. Thethree-dimensional game board of claim 12, wherein the channels have ashape defined by edges of the raised surfaces.
 26. The three-dimensionalgame board of claim 12, wherein the raised surfaces are formed in apolygon or a circular shape.
 27. The three-dimensional game board ofclaim 12, wherein the elements are formed in a polygon or a circularshape.